A Catholic Blog
A priest writing reflections on theology, philosophy, and Catholicism. I'll occasionaly write movie reviews, rants, and discussion topics. I write from my experiences, personal and intellectual, for my benefit and yours (should you get any from it). None of what I write is official or representative of my diocese or parish, just my semi-public attempt at figuring things out and sharing it with you for the sake of dialogue.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Response and Reflection to NY Times Article (Catholic Countries Support Gay Marriage)

This is sad for a number of reasons:
(1):
"That’s
because “Catholics” includes not just worshipers who attend Mass weekly
and perhaps tilt in a more conservative direction but those who go less
frequently and those for whom Catholicism is as much an ethnic as a
religious identity."

Catholics who identify themselves as
cultural and claim that their views are inspired by their Catholicism,
when really its inspired by pluralistic influences, should not say
"because of my Catholicism."

Not participating in the sacraments
whatsoever and no taking even the slightest time to understand what the
Church teaches (or read Scripture) is doing a disservice to one's
conscience.

In that same vein, (2):

"We journalists too
often use “the Catholic Church” as a synonym for the pope, the cardinals
and teachings that have the Vatican’s stamp of approval.
But in
Europe and the Americas in particular, the church is much more fluid
than that. It harbors spiritually inclined people paying primary
obeisance to their own consciences, their own senses of social justice.
That impulse and tradition are as Catholic as any others."

Primary obedience to one's conscience is not a blank check to do and act
as you please, but a right given to all to exercise their free will to
the best of their ability and knowledge.
One's conscience formed
by his or her own convictions and preferences is not a "Catholic
Conscience," but a "church-of-me" conscience. The Church can and won't
infringe upon anyone's free will, but she does reserve the right, by
virtue of her teaching and authority, to say if a given claim is
erroneous, heretical, or schismatic to Catholicism and truth. So it is
with myself or with anyone else who says they are Catholic, we must be
humble in light of what is taught and obedient to the Church through a
conscience formed by the Cross, a daily incorporation of Scripture,
understanding of Tradition, and guidance from one's spiritual leaders.

Blame should probably fall on priests, myself included, who are not a
steady witness to the Gospel, but rather seek comfort in those who agree
with them and in topics of universal agreement, such as feeding the
poor (which still isn't done enough, along with other corporal works of
mercy), as opposed to preaching the Gospel on matters of gay marriage,
divorce, contraception, the dignity of all persons, war, and the death
penalty (things which pertain, I think, to spiritual works of mercy).

It's difficult to preach on these difficult issues without hijacking
the mass which, in turn, makes the sacraments of the Church vehicles of
personal preference as opposed to sources of life-giving grace. Yet we
and our faithful don't do much before or after mass to build off that
grace to grow in knowledge of our Church. So when should we talk about
them? It's worth discussing, I think.

Thus, with brief reference
to this article, advocating for gay marriage, even in a Catholic country
and saying that it is a result of a Catholic conscience is, in my
opinion, erroneous as best (insofar as they are mistaken about Church
teaching) and those who proclaim it publicly (knowing consciously the
teachings of the Church), with the intention of persuading other
Catholics into seeing it as a "Catholic answer/alternative," speak in a
heretical fashion. Neither of these actions are/become sinful unless
those who hold to it as a Catholic position are obstinate and refuse to
discuss it with their local, spiritual leader (typically a priest or
deacon; or bishop). Catholics may, out of respect for their consciences,
hold gay marriage as a personal belief, but publicly proclaiming it as
coming from Catholicism is wrong.

My opinion is that most people
simply speak in error because they have been taught to let "their
conscience be their guide" while never being taught how to form it for
themselves. "Do not be carried away by all manners of strange teaching"
(Heb 13:9), rather, "test everything, hold onto what is good" (1 Thes
5:21). "Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions
that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of
ours." (2 Thes 2:15)

**tl;dr verson:**
It's time we as
Catholics actually started forming our consciences, priests included,
and be in genuine discourse with each other and the Tradition.